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Thomas Sunderland Hawkins (1829-1903)
}} Biography 1871 Polygamy Prosecution Thomas Hawkins is noteworthy for being the very case of federal prosecution for polygamy in Utah Territory by Justice McKean. He was chief justice of Utah Territory from 1870-1875, appointed by President Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885). Since there was no applicable federal law, the judge tried this case under territorial law for "lewd and licentious association" (adultery). However no adultery case could be tried without first a complaint made by the offended spouse. It was rare for a Mormon wife to enter a complaint against her husband, but Thomas Hawkins first wife did so, outraged over his taking a second wife. (While most plural marriages required consent of the first wife, it was also allowed otherwise on occassion by the church elders for a compelling reason.) This complaint gave federal prosecutors their first clear-cut case to prosecute. After Mrs Hawkins testified against him, Thomas was convicted by an all non-Mormon jury finding him guilty of adultery, that is having several wives through the sanction of the Church. He was fined $500 and sentenced to three years in prison. Hawkins appealed his case and bond was set at $20,000 which he could not provide. This case set a dangerous precendent and days later Mormon Prophet, Brigham Young (1801-1877) was indicted under a similar process for similar charges. While Brigham case was underway, another case reached the US Supreme Court. There the Supreme Court unanimously ruled in the Englebright case that it was not fair for Mormons to be tried in any jury trail in Utah by an all non-Mormon jury. This ruling rendered all criminal convictions for the prior 18 months in Utah now void, with 138 prisoners held in Utah jails to be freed immediately, including Thomas. Flight Southwards Sometime in 1880/81 Thomas and his family had moved south to Taylor, Arizona where daughter Alice was born. Probably to escape prosecution for polygamy. Sometime in 1886 Thomas and his family had moved south to the Mormon Colonies in Mexico where last child, Orson Davis was born. Marriage and Family 1st Marriage: Harriet Jones # Thomas Hawkins (1851-1851) # Harriet Hepzibah Hawkins (1853-1922) # Eliza Ann Hawkins (1855-1922) # William John Hawkins (1858-1926) # Mary Ann Hawkins (1860-1866) # George Thomas Hawkins (1862-1929) # Joseph Job Hawkins (1864-1898) # Emma Levenia Hawkins (1866-1939) 2nd Marriage: Elizabeth Mears # Thomas Mears Hawkins (1865-1866) # Elizabeth Mears Hawkins (1867-1911) - assassinated by bandits on the doorstep of her home in the Mormon Colonies in Mexico. # David Mears Hawkins (1869-1946) # Alma Mears Hawkins (1872-1967) # Louesa Hawkins (1876-1943) 3rd Marriage: Sarah Davis # Frank Davis Hawkins (1867-1872) # Alfred Davis Hawkins (1869-1961) # Sarah Davis Hawkins (1872-1918) # Charles Davis Hawkins (1874-1878) # Emily Davis Hawkins (1876-1964) # Samuel Davis Hawkins (1879-1943) # Alice Davis Hawkins (1882-1922) # Willard Davis Hawkins (1885-1964) # Orson Davis Hawkins (1887-1966) References * Men to Match My Mountains - Irving Stone, pg 412-413 Category:Migrants from England to Utah Category:Migrants from England to Mexico